Electrosurgical instruments are well known and widely used in the medical, dental, and veterinarian fields. They offer the capability of precision cutting with electrosurgical currents in the megacycle range using a handpiece with needle, ball, or loop electrodes in a unpolar operating mode, or convenient coagulation using a forceps in a bipolar operating mode. Ellman International, Inc. makes available an electrosurgical instrument which provides on its front panel connectors for receiving the plug of a unipolar handpiece and a ground or indifferent plate, as well as connectors for receiving the plugs of a bipolar forceps.
In a typical surgical setting, a surgeon may first use the unipolar handpiece to perform a desired cutting procedure and then desire to use the bipolar forceps for coagulation of blood vessels because of its unique ability to coagulate in a fluid field. This creates problems in maintaining the requisite sterile field while still allowing the surgeon to unplug and plug in different devices. There is at present no convenient way for the surgeon to do this effectively without jeopardizing the sterile field.